Take a look at some of the EverQuest expansion's features and zone screenshots!

With the Beta NDA now lifted, we take a closer look at two prominent features set to be added with the Call of the Forsaken expansion - Heroic Adventures and Mercenary Enhancements - as well as several screenshots of the zones being introduced at launch time (October 8, 2013).

Heroic Adventures

Heroic adventures are customized shared tasks (1-6 players) that take place in instanced zones and scale in level, difficulty, and loot quality (based on the highest level player in the group) down to Level 95. They are designed for groups of 2-3 players and their mercenaries, and shouldn't take an average group any longer than 45-60 minutes to complete.

What do we mean by "customized"? Well, instead of a standard shared task with an unchanging set of steps to run through, heroic adventures have a randomized component to them whereby there are multiple options (or 'possible directives') for each step in the task. In other words, you can complete one of these heroic adventures, and then the next time you run through the same adventure, you could have a different set of task steps and encounter different NPCs.

Loot-dropping nameds (such as the Dreadmole of the Bixie Warfront or the Monstrous Minnow of the Dead Hills) can also appear in these adventures, and completion results in group currency that can be used to buy gear (both player and mercenary) and spells from vendors in the Ethernere.

It should be noted that there is plenty of content outside of heroic adventures as they are but one facet of Call of the Forsaken (there are also regular partisan and mercenary tasks, as well as regular group missions), and every zone has a static (non-instanced) version.

(Mercenary Enhancements and Zone Screenshots can be found below the jump!)

Mercenary Enhancements

Another feature we're looking forward to is made up of mercenary enhancements. Put simply, you'll be able to boost your mercenaries' strength and overall usefulness in the form of gear (for example, the chest piece that comes with expansion pre-orders - image below) and passive AAs (among which are improved healing for healers and improved defense for tanks, for example).

Mercenaries will gain AA experience with you (you'll have to have them spawned for them to gain experience), and gear can be purchased from a vendor in the Ethernere using currency rewarded from tasks.

Here is a look at the chest piece that comes with expansion pre-orders (scales to level):

And here is a look at the mercenary AA tab:

Zone Screenshots

Below here are two screenshots of each zone (in this order): Ethernere Tainted West Karana, The Dead Hills, Bixie Warfront, and Neriak Fourth Gate.

I hope they plan on adding some major AC + stats to that Vestments of the Forsaken chest piece cause 818 hp/m/e only is horrible. Considering how hard trash, not to mention names hit a tank merc nowadays I don't see any value in those numbers. That alone is making me not want to pre-order the expansion. Just my 2 cents...

I knew i wasn't going for the expansion back on august 5th when i read news about it on this site. Nice to see you still trolling Moonlight55. Hope you read my replies back then. Understand if you didn't. Trolling can be a full time effort. Probably troll so much you have no idea what i am even talking about. Oh well. I look forward to seeing what else they eventually add to this next expansion. Maybe something will be worthwhile especially if they finally decide to lower the price at some point though giving SoE's track record that seems unlikely. Well i still have 19 expansions worth of content to ***** around with and 16 different classes i can play.

How is he trolling? Like correct me if I'm wrong here, but he has a point. The guy said he didn't wanna spend 180 bucks for 3 account expansions and he's like: That's the collector's edition price, nobody is making you buy that to play CotF, he would knock a whole 60 bucks off that and pay 120 for the base game alone, and you say the guy pointing out: that's collector edition price is trolling? I'm not getting the troll out of that.

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"Some claim they wish to be enlightened or wish to experience Zen. This is an absurdity, you do not 'become' enlightened or 'experience' Zen. If you wish to be enlightened, BE." - Unknown

She is correct. He doesn't have to buy the collector's edition of the expansion. That is not why i said she is trolling. She made comments in other threads asking me questions. I answered and asked her questions as well. She didn't reply to anything. I thought it was because she was trolling. A non troll would reply when asked a question right? Not drop smart *** questions and never look back. Maybe what i think is a troll is not actually a troll. What would you call it though cardeonclarols?

@stickietoes95 No im not. Please reply and explain how i am a troll? I check back on my posts every day or so. I don't post and then leave and not ever reply. That is what i think trolls do. Like i said though i could be wrong and that might not be what a troll is. Feel free to reply and discuss it.

EDIT: Looks like i won't be getting that civil discussion from cardeonclarols or stickietoes95. In cardeonclarols case though at least that post of his was his last as of this date. Stickietoes95 has made several posts since october 2nd so i know he visits this site regularly. I guess he has been busy trolling and getting his toes sticky, ewww. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how that is happening. lol

Back to my original post about Moonlight55. Yet another troll that has made several posts and of course never replies to anything directed at her. That is why i thought she was a troll and still do to this day. So my track record so far is 2 out of 4. Baeddon and cardeonclarols last posts were directed towards me. Moonlight55 and Stickietoes95 are on this site regularly and have yet to reply. I do hope some day they will stop trolling and reply so we can have a civil discussion. Like i said i may be wrong about what trolling is to begin with and wouldn't mind hearing feedback from those i claimed were trolls.

I don’t troll, but I do play the game. So my “absence” of not checking on alla daily and replying to you in an expedient manner was not due to “full time trolling” but finishing all the mercenary, partisan and mission in CotF. Which sadly to say that I am indeed finished…not even the slightest bit of difficulty and the missions, normally the hardest part of progression, were beyond simple in scale, effort and difficulty. I guess I can work on hunter now that SOE upped the spawn rate per adventure. I’ll reply to your original post to make you happy.

However, my post still stands, people complain about the cost when there are two price tags. One gimmicky one with silly bells and whistles that cost the most, and the other with far less bells and whistles more reasonable priced. No one is forcing anyone to purchase the most expensive. I also love seeing people complain they can’t afford the highest priced game for their 3 or more accounts. All I’m saying is…this is a game, and there is a big difference between need and want.

As a side note. I’m guessing Lowebal, Puhnjab and Auldian (posts here) are indeed very disappointed.

I had to send you a message in the first place which is the actual reason you replied. Nice of you to use CoF as the excuse even though it took you more then 2 months to reply to my post in another thread and anyone checking your profile can see that you posted other times after august 5th. Don't lie. Just be honest. You were trolling and didn't even think to see or care to see if anyone replied to what you had said. The least you could do is be honest.

Anyone else notice a few weeks ago when suddenly Merc Healers started hesitating a tiny bit before healing? Or your Tank Merc Taking more damage all of a sudden? Hopefully these new merc "enhancements" will put Mercs back where they were. You Gotta love Soe. Reminds me of when the spell fizzle AA"s were released, after fizzles suddenly had increased dramatically, LOL. Just my 2 cents worth. Still looking forward to the new expac!! Go Mercs !!! If it wasn't for the Mercs I would have quit this game years ago! Just my loner style ha ha.

I hope they have changed the mobs hit speed and how hard they hit. I did a little of the BETA but got very discouraged rite away. The animals weren't to bad, but the Humiods or what ever hit so hard and so fast that you were dead before you could say oh @#%#%^. The zones that I was in were nice though. Have fun and good luck!